Sales people have procedures for overcoming objections, managers have procedures for dealing with a crisis or an upset customer, insurance agents have procedures for handling claims, instructional designers have procedures for creating role-plays or teaching concepts vs. facts. There has been a lot of talk about formal vs. informal learning in the educational blogosphere and when it comes right down to it, formal learning is the most effective. Here's why. MORE

Since virtual immersive environments are, by definition, immersive, the environment plays a critical role in the training process. What role does the environment play in the learning process? An important element in creating effective learning in a 3D virtual world is to create the right environment. MORE

I do work as an evaluator on several National Science Foundation (NSF ) Advanced Technology Education (ATE) grants. learn a little more about the ATE programs ) I have been asked to share some of my experiences in an upcoming webinar about NSF ATE Evaluations. Here are the details in case you are interested in attending. MORE

Adaptive experts , on the other hand, are able to take on the role of inquiring novices when required and are thus able to view a problem from different perspectives. I have been deviating from the key themes of this blog, i.e., learning, performance, training and collaboration, for some time now. However, the deviations have been topics that moved me deeply, and I did not want to write about them in a separate blog. They are as much a part of me as all things learning. MORE

Academia is teeming with learning theories. Some of them are old, some of them are new. Some are flash-in-the-pan, others stand the test of time and remain applicable to this very day. Some of them are controversial, while others have assumed the aura of conventional wisdom. MORE

I started this discussion to understand the roles (tacit and explicit) that a learning consultant plays. Carter McNamara Developer and Director at Free Management Library Regarding what a learning consultant does, I recommend reading the Chief Learning Officer magazines articles about various organizational roles around learning. Alok Asthana: The following comment captures the role of a consultant and added clarity to my thoughts. MORE

I’ve been recently working on lots of eLearning strategy consulting engagements and one of my colleagues asked me to provide a set of resources around this topic. I went back and looked at what I had written before on eLearning Strategy and saw that I had said at the time: I've spent several hours this morning trying to find good resources on eLearning Strategy development and particularly looking for examples to use in this post. I've really been striking out. MORE

I just think that she has got it wrong in this piece as to what real learning is and the role that LMS and ‘social learning’ have to play in the mix of building workforce capability and effectiveness in organisations. MORE

There are plenty of other examples, such as a certain level of product knowledge, that may be critical to the role. In a practical sense, this means we should map required competencies to each role and assess the employee’s proficiency against each one. MORE

Identify a clear owner of the team and define roles and responsibilities clearly. In the past I have written a few posts mainly focused on making the process of selecting the right LMS for your business need – be it internal training management or selling training as a business. MORE

Aiding in such things as increasing positive learner attitudes and providing a social role model for interactions. Here are 4 software products that allow you to add an avatar to your elearning courses. Avatars can be an important and meaningful addition to your elearning. MORE

The closer that one gets to Route 128 or Silicon Valley, the more it appears that people seem to think that innovation is all about invention, and seem to ignore the critical role in this played by research and scholarship. MORE

Before I start with any of my actual predictions, let me throw in an overall prediction that the year is going to start off slow for most people, but by the end of the year, we will all be thinking: “Wow, 2010 was a crazy year!” For example, Harold Jarche tells us 2010: Year of the CM. MORE

Rockin’ role. Under the ILE model, the role of the L&D professional finally evolves. A touch dramatic, isn’t it? Now that I have your attention, please bear with me. There’s method in my madness… The myth of rapid authoring. MORE

We know from research that distributed practice or learning a little bit at a time is an effective method and that video games can play a role in that process. From time to time, I get questions from students who have an assignment to speak to someone in the field. I think those kinds of assignments are wonderful because they link pre-professionals and people learning about the field with people who have been in the field for a while. MORE

I write this as I travel to Birmingham to participate in a panel discussion with Nick Shackleton-Jones and Robin Hoyle on the role of social media in learning. Here is where blogging can play a valuable role. The discussion forms part of the agenda for the World of Learning Conference, an event that I have enjoyed participating in for something like ten years now. Anyway, this post provides me with an opportunity to clarify my thoughts in preparation for the discussion. MORE

May 2010. Performance Learning Productivity , May 28, 2010 Instructional design is not only seen as a core competency for learning and development/training specialists, but it’s a huge industry, too. A Defense of the LMS (and a case for the future of Social Learning) - Social Enterprise Blog , May 12, 2010 For some time now, I’ve seen a growing negativity toward LMS solutions by a pretty wide group folks in our space. LMS Resources - aLearning , May 8, 2010 I know, I know. MORE

On the other hand, your understanding of the domain, and your role in it, changes over time. The role of learning designers is beginning to change from being creators of learning interventions to creators (and facilitators) of learning environments. MORE

Learning Spaces focuses on how learner expectations influence such spaces, the principles and activities that facilitate learning, and the role of technology from the perspective of those who create learning environments: faculty, learning technologists, librarians, and administrators. MORE

Each learner should assume a role or a position similar to what they would be doing on the job or a trainer assumes a role of a client or a supervisor. Each role should have a brief written explanation so the learners know how they should act within their role. Good stories shouldn't be relegate to only reading a novel on the beach, use them to promote learning! MORE

According to Jaak Panksepp , a neuroscientist at the Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics at Northwestern University, dopamine has been found to play a crucial role in choice, learning, and belief formation. MORE

Provided that learning and development leaders could and should have a central role in innovation, what is the chief learning officer’s responsibility? Appropriately reconciling roles will be a critical determinant of success. What is L&D’s Role? The world has changed. MORE

Ways to Tell a Story (Alan Levine) - ZaidLearn , December 16, 2007 The power of Voice in online classrooms - eLearning Acupuncture , May 31, 2010 The Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures - ZaidLearn , August 29, 2009 E-teaching personality is good for e-learning - Electronic Papyrus , January 5, 2010 Online Discussions Face-to-Face Versus Threaded Discussions: The Role of Time and Higher Order Thinking Dr. Katrina A. MORE

link] January 2010 January 3-4, 2010 New Presidents Program , sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges, Marco Island, Florida, USA. link] January 3-6, 2010 International Conference on Distributed Computing and Networking (ICDC), Kolkata, India. link] February 22-23, 2010. MORE

In the past when I have heard groups express their dislike (if not complete hatred) of role plays, I have been sceptical that this opinion was in some way swayed by the bad experiences of the group in question - they had clearly in some past existence been badly bitten during or as a result of a role play exercise. So now it’s official – people hate role plays. Here ends my rant on role plays. MORE

This is not easy to do for most leaders; it takes someone who is very confident and comfortable in his or her role to pull it off. While organizations confer management roles, it is up to the leader to prove himself or herself by getting others to follow his or her lead. Command-and-control leadership remains pervasive throughout business, government, and nonprofit organizations. MORE

But having spent some time now immersed in The Power of Pull by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison (2010), I'm convinced that conferences will have an important role to play for years to come. It's easy to think of conferences as rather old hat - top-down and push in an era that is increasingly bottom-up and pull; very un-green when we face huge environmental challenges; very extravagant when everyone but the Chinese is running out of money. MORE

Secondly, I often draw the analogy that an immersive 3D experience for serious learning is not really different than creating in-class role plays or doing other immersive experiences (such as outdoor team-building events). In Learning in 3D, we asked Steve Mahaley, of Duke Corporate Education for some ways he overcomes objections and resistance from executives and others to using 3D virtual immersive environments (VIES) for learning and collaboration, here is what he said. MORE

In my role as Assistant Director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies (which works hand-in glove with the Department of Instructional Technology), my role is to foster relationships with entrepreneurs, seek opportunities for our students to work on projects as students (grants and contracts) and to seek opportunities for job placement of our graduates. Each of these roles could be a full-time job in-and-of itself. In Pennsylvania, the job situation is rather bleak. MORE

Part of that mission is occasionally playing the role of insurgent in a video game-type environment. Recently, there has been a lot of calls for the death of PowerPoint especially from the US Army. MORE

Provided that learning and development leaders could and should have a central role in innovation, what is the chief learning officer’s responsibility? Appropriately reconciling roles will be a critical determinant of success. What is L&D’s Role? The world has changed.

I write this as I travel to Birmingham to participate in a panel discussion with Nick Shackleton-Jones and Robin Hoyle on the role of social media in learning. Here is where blogging can play a valuable role. The discussion forms part of the agenda for the World of Learning Conference, an event that I have enjoyed participating in for something like ten years now. Anyway, this post provides me with an opportunity to clarify my thoughts in preparation for the discussion.

I do work as an evaluator on several National Science Foundation (NSF ) Advanced Technology Education (ATE) grants. learn a little more about the ATE programs ) I have been asked to share some of my experiences in an upcoming webinar about NSF ATE Evaluations. Here are the details in case you are interested in attending.

Before I start with any of my actual predictions, let me throw in an overall prediction that the year is going to start off slow for most people, but by the end of the year, we will all be thinking: “Wow, 2010 was a crazy year!” For example, Harold Jarche tells us 2010: Year of the CM.

May 2010. Performance Learning Productivity , May 28, 2010 Instructional design is not only seen as a core competency for learning and development/training specialists, but it’s a huge industry, too. A Defense of the LMS (and a case for the future of Social Learning) - Social Enterprise Blog , May 12, 2010 For some time now, I’ve seen a growing negativity toward LMS solutions by a pretty wide group folks in our space. LMS Resources - aLearning , May 8, 2010 I know, I know.

Ways to Tell a Story (Alan Levine) - ZaidLearn , December 16, 2007 The power of Voice in online classrooms - eLearning Acupuncture , May 31, 2010 The Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures - ZaidLearn , August 29, 2009 E-teaching personality is good for e-learning - Electronic Papyrus , January 5, 2010 Online Discussions Face-to-Face Versus Threaded Discussions: The Role of Time and Higher Order Thinking Dr. Katrina A.

Rockin’ role. Under the ILE model, the role of the L&D professional finally evolves. A touch dramatic, isn’t it? Now that I have your attention, please bear with me. There’s method in my madness… The myth of rapid authoring.

Sales people have procedures for overcoming objections, managers have procedures for dealing with a crisis or an upset customer, insurance agents have procedures for handling claims, instructional designers have procedures for creating role-plays or teaching concepts vs. facts. There has been a lot of talk about formal vs. informal learning in the educational blogosphere and when it comes right down to it, formal learning is the most effective. Here's why.

On the other hand, your understanding of the domain, and your role in it, changes over time. The role of learning designers is beginning to change from being creators of learning interventions to creators (and facilitators) of learning environments.

I’ve been recently working on lots of eLearning strategy consulting engagements and one of my colleagues asked me to provide a set of resources around this topic. I went back and looked at what I had written before on eLearning Strategy and saw that I had said at the time: I've spent several hours this morning trying to find good resources on eLearning Strategy development and particularly looking for examples to use in this post. I've really been striking out.

There are plenty of other examples, such as a certain level of product knowledge, that may be critical to the role. In a practical sense, this means we should map required competencies to each role and assess the employee’s proficiency against each one.

May 2010. Performance Learning Productivity , May 28, 2010 Instructional design is not only seen as a core competency for learning and development/training specialists, but it’s a huge industry, too. A Defense of the LMS (and a case for the future of Social Learning) - Social Enterprise Blog , May 12, 2010 For some time now, I’ve seen a growing negativity toward LMS solutions by a pretty wide group folks in our space. LMS Resources - aLearning , May 8, 2010 I know, I know.

Ways to Tell a Story (Alan Levine) - ZaidLearn , December 16, 2007 The power of Voice in online classrooms - eLearning Acupuncture , May 31, 2010 The Secret Recipe to Delivering World Class Lectures - ZaidLearn , August 29, 2009 E-teaching personality is good for e-learning - Electronic Papyrus , January 5, 2010 Online Discussions Face-to-Face Versus Threaded Discussions: The Role of Time and Higher Order Thinking Dr. Katrina A.

I started this discussion to understand the roles (tacit and explicit) that a learning consultant plays. Carter McNamara Developer and Director at Free Management Library Regarding what a learning consultant does, I recommend reading the Chief Learning Officer magazines articles about various organizational roles around learning. Alok Asthana: The following comment captures the role of a consultant and added clarity to my thoughts.

Academia is teeming with learning theories. Some of them are old, some of them are new. Some are flash-in-the-pan, others stand the test of time and remain applicable to this very day. Some of them are controversial, while others have assumed the aura of conventional wisdom.

Aiding in such things as increasing positive learner attitudes and providing a social role model for interactions. Here are 4 software products that allow you to add an avatar to your elearning courses. Avatars can be an important and meaningful addition to your elearning.

The closer that one gets to Route 128 or Silicon Valley, the more it appears that people seem to think that innovation is all about invention, and seem to ignore the critical role in this played by research and scholarship.

In my role as Assistant Director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies (which works hand-in glove with the Department of Instructional Technology), my role is to foster relationships with entrepreneurs, seek opportunities for our students to work on projects as students (grants and contracts) and to seek opportunities for job placement of our graduates. Each of these roles could be a full-time job in-and-of itself. In Pennsylvania, the job situation is rather bleak.

But having spent some time now immersed in The Power of Pull by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison (2010), I'm convinced that conferences will have an important role to play for years to come. It's easy to think of conferences as rather old hat - top-down and push in an era that is increasingly bottom-up and pull; very un-green when we face huge environmental challenges; very extravagant when everyone but the Chinese is running out of money.

link] January 2010 January 3-4, 2010 New Presidents Program , sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges, Marco Island, Florida, USA. link] January 3-6, 2010 International Conference on Distributed Computing and Networking (ICDC), Kolkata, India. link] February 22-23, 2010.

Learning Spaces focuses on how learner expectations influence such spaces, the principles and activities that facilitate learning, and the role of technology from the perspective of those who create learning environments: faculty, learning technologists, librarians, and administrators.

According to Jaak Panksepp , a neuroscientist at the Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics at Northwestern University, dopamine has been found to play a crucial role in choice, learning, and belief formation.

Secondly, I often draw the analogy that an immersive 3D experience for serious learning is not really different than creating in-class role plays or doing other immersive experiences (such as outdoor team-building events). In Learning in 3D, we asked Steve Mahaley, of Duke Corporate Education for some ways he overcomes objections and resistance from executives and others to using 3D virtual immersive environments (VIES) for learning and collaboration, here is what he said.

Since virtual immersive environments are, by definition, immersive, the environment plays a critical role in the training process. What role does the environment play in the learning process? An important element in creating effective learning in a 3D virtual world is to create the right environment.

Each learner should assume a role or a position similar to what they would be doing on the job or a trainer assumes a role of a client or a supervisor. Each role should have a brief written explanation so the learners know how they should act within their role. Good stories shouldn't be relegate to only reading a novel on the beach, use them to promote learning!

We know from research that distributed practice or learning a little bit at a time is an effective method and that video games can play a role in that process. From time to time, I get questions from students who have an assignment to speak to someone in the field. I think those kinds of assignments are wonderful because they link pre-professionals and people learning about the field with people who have been in the field for a while.

Identify a clear owner of the team and define roles and responsibilities clearly. In the past I have written a few posts mainly focused on making the process of selecting the right LMS for your business need – be it internal training management or selling training as a business.

In the past when I have heard groups express their dislike (if not complete hatred) of role plays, I have been sceptical that this opinion was in some way swayed by the bad experiences of the group in question - they had clearly in some past existence been badly bitten during or as a result of a role play exercise. So now it’s official – people hate role plays. Here ends my rant on role plays.

Adaptive experts , on the other hand, are able to take on the role of inquiring novices when required and are thus able to view a problem from different perspectives. I have been deviating from the key themes of this blog, i.e., learning, performance, training and collaboration, for some time now. However, the deviations have been topics that moved me deeply, and I did not want to write about them in a separate blog. They are as much a part of me as all things learning.

I just think that she has got it wrong in this piece as to what real learning is and the role that LMS and ‘social learning’ have to play in the mix of building workforce capability and effectiveness in organisations.

This is not easy to do for most leaders; it takes someone who is very confident and comfortable in his or her role to pull it off. While organizations confer management roles, it is up to the leader to prove himself or herself by getting others to follow his or her lead. Command-and-control leadership remains pervasive throughout business, government, and nonprofit organizations.